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Corvallis mosque torched

The FBI offers a reward for an arrest in the arson case at the mosque that a teenage bomb plot suspect attended

By Winston Ross

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Monday, Nov. 29, 2010, page A1

CORVALLIS — The repercussions of a foiled terrorist plot struck close to home on Sunday when an arsonist set fire to the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis, the occasional place of worship of 19-year-old Mohamed Mohamud, the former college student accused of attempting to blow up a van packed with explosives at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland on Friday.

Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not speculate about who committed the arson, which burned 80 percent of the office in Corvallis’ only mosque. But they made clear they considered it an “apparent attack” on the center and offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

“We have made it quite clear that the FBI will not tolerate any kind of retribution or attack on the Muslim community,” said Arthur Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon. “We are working very closely with the leadership at the mosque. We will find the person responsible for this attack and bring the full force of the federal justice system to bear.”

Despite those assurances, the arson brought fear to Muslims living in Eugene and throughout the region, who worry that one man’s twisted plan to kill Americans will only further damage some people’s limited understanding of Islam.

That prospect saddens Anwar Adi, who moved to the San Francisco area last year after 15 years in Eugene, a community he said is full of people who treat Muslims well.

“Muslims are more concerned with how they’re portrayed in the media than how their fellow American treats them,” Adi said. “If you get a chance to meet somebody in person, you can show them who you really are, you can have a conversation. People have been really good to us in Eugene, but in the media, we end up having to constantly defend ourselves, to define ourselves in terms of what we’re not, instead of what we are.”

Moktar al-Hemyare, a Eugene Muslim and owner of a car dealer­ship on West 11th Avenue, agreed. He said he worries about retribution but also feels there’s little use for such fear.

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “What can you do?”

People in Eugene are by and large educated and cordial, al-Hemyare added, and they understand that extremists such as Mohamud are being used because they’re ignorant about Islam’s true teachings.

“I’ve been in Eugene for more than 10 years, and so far nothing’s happened,” he said. “I’ve never been bothered.”

Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ regional chapter in Seattle, said he’s asked police to step up patrols around mosques and Islamic schools in the Northwest. He told The Register-Guard he remains “hopeful” that the Sunday morning arson won’t kick off a wave of retribution.

“The Muslim community is really shocked by this,” Bukhari said of Mohamud’s arrest. “What we have to do in response is really step up our engagement among people of different faiths and backgrounds.”

Such efforts notwithstanding, Sunday’s attack on the mosque was a jarring one, especially for Muslims in Corvallis. The fire at the center was reported at 2:15 a.m., and evidence left at the scene suggests it was set intentionally, said Carla Pusateri, a fire prevention officer for the Corvallis Fire Department. The fire did not spread to worship areas or other rooms, and no one was hurt.

“I’ve prayed for my family and friends, because obviously if someone was deliberate enough to do this, what’s to stop them from coming to our homes and our schools?” said Mohamed Alyagouri, a 31-year-old father of two who worships at the center. “I’m afraid for my children getting harassed from their teachers, maybe from their friends.”

Yosof Wanly, the Corvallis mosque’s imam, said he was thinking about temporarily relocating his family because of the possibility of hate crimes.

“We know how it is, we know some people due to ignorance are going to perceive of these things and hold most Muslims accountable,” Wanly said. “We do what we can, but it’s a tough situation.”

Authorities have not explained how Mohamud, an Oregon State University student until he dropped out on Oct. 6, became so radicalized. Mohamud graduated from high school in the Portland suburb of Beaver­ton.

Wanly described him as a normal student who went to athletic events, drank an occasional beer and was into rap music and culture. He described Mohamud as religious, saying he attended prayers in Corvallis once or twice a month over a year and a half.

Wanly, 24, said that in about 15 conversations he had with Mohamud, the teen rarely discussed religion. He said that may have been because Mohamud knew his extremist views wouldn’t be tolerated, and he suggested that Mohamud was influenced by radical teaching he read on the Internet.

“If a person has a type of agenda, he can find anything he wants on the Internet and block out everything else,” Wanly said.

In Portland, residents are alarmed by the terror plot, but Mayor Sam Adams said they are “not going to let this change our values of being an open and embracing city.” He said he has beefed up patrols around mosques “and other facilities that might be vulnerable to knuckle-headed retribution.”